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The concept of anarchy is seen as the cardinal organizing category of the discipline of International Relations (IR), which differentiates it from cognate disciplines such as Political Science or Political Philosophy. This entry provides an analytical review of the scholarly literature on anarchy in IR, on two levels—conceptual and theoretical. First, it distinguishes three senses of the concept of anarchy: (1) lack of a common superior in an interaction domain; (2) chaos or disorder; and (3) horizontal relation between nominally equal entities, sovereign states. The first and the third senses of "anarchy"' are central to IR. Second, it considers three broad families of IR theory where anarchy figures as a focal assumption—(1) realism and neorealism; (2) English School theory (international society approach); and (3) Kant's republican peace. Despite normative and conceptual differences otherwise, all three bodies of theory are ultimately based on Hobbes's argument for a "state of nature." The discussion concludes with a summary of the key challenges to the discourse of international anarchy posed by the methodology of economics and economics-based theories which favor the alternative discourse of global hierarchy.

International Relations Theory offers a unique approach to help students think conceptually and critically about how our contemporary world of diverse state and non-state actors works, but also the implications of domestic and global changes. The seventh edition covers current IR theory images (realism, liberalism, economic-structuralism, and the English School), interpretive understandings (constructivist, feminist, postmodern, critical theory, and green theory), normative considerations, and intellectual foundations from the ancient world to the modern era.

AbstractSystemist international relations (SIR) is put forward as a potential solution to short- and long-term problems faced by the discipline of international relations (IR). SIR responds to the immediate difficulties that stem from an impasse between advocates of analytic eclecticism and skeptics who prefer paradigmatic research. The more sustained challenges posed by the size and complexity of IR also can be met through implementation of SIR, which entails a graphic turn. Along those lines, the Visual International Relations Project (VIRP) is creating an archive of one-page graphic summaries for cause and effect as conveyed in respective publications. The VIRP aims toward an improved state of communication in the field based on such visual representations.

"Art in International Relations" published on by Oxford University Press.